Why do Steam Reviews have a max character limitation?

[Sharpie The Dragon]

The limitation is incredibly low at a maximum of 8000 characters. Which is about 1400 words, there is (at least for me), going to be hard to actually openly and honestly explain about a game and give a detailed review of it, you need to talk about multiple parts in detail, but this (horrible) max character limitation prevents this.

Shouldn't there be a min character limitation rather than a maximum character limitation? Wouldn't that prevent cheeky/cheesy one liners that practically isn't a review? I made my L4D2 review back in March, but have just updated it so I could give some extra detail, but I HAD to do this in the comments, which isn't professional.

[supertrooper225]

A min would just make people copy and paste the same one line reviews until the reach the minimum.

I think the max character limitation is more than enough to say whether a game is worth buying or not and why.

[cinedine]

I've written essays with less words. It's supposed to be a short review, not an in-depth analysis.
One characteristic of a good writer is keeping it short and to the point.
Your review is full of redundancies and specifica (keep in mind the target audience doesn't know the game yet).

Prime example in the section (which by itself is far too long and specific):
"[...] or they need it for long distance shooting, I.E trying to shoot something from a far distance such as a Tank."
You're explaining what "long distance shooting" means with a slightly different word ("long" Vs "far") and add an example which serves no point.

[Nikusui 😗]

You don't seriously expect any buyer to read through pages of your review just to justify their purchase. What I personally look at is really just the "Pros" and "Cons" of the game of interest.
Why is it good and unique from other game of this genre? Why is it bad as compared to other games of the same genre? All other information (personal opinions etc) are rather redundant, and serve little informative purposes.

[Seretti]

Originally posted by Sharples:

The limitation is incredibly low at a maximum of 8000 words. Which is about 1400 words,

You might want to correct that... :)

As has been said, you don't need to write a book on the game. Just listing pros and cons are enough and can be done with way less than 1400 words. Personally, I tend to avoid reviews that use up the max character limit, as I have no use whatsoever of the "info" posted in them.

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

I agree. 8000 characters isn't enough for me to write down all that I'm thinking. If you want to read a summary, just read the first paragraph. I want to note down all the important things that I noticed in the game for recording purposes.

[cinedine]

Originally posted by <™-=> Cookiez <=-™>:

I agree. 8000 characters isn't enough for me to write down all that I'm thinking. If you want to read a summary, just read the first paragraph. I want to note down all the important things that I noticed in the game for recording purposes.

If you want to record your thoughts, than to so outside of Steam. There, same logic. My freaking final paper was just shy of 10,000 words. I very much doubt a /review/ would need more than that. There are novelles with less words!

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

Yes, 8000 characters is around 1000+ words. It's much less than your final paper.

[ShikenNuggets]

I didn't even know there was a character limit, and one of my reviews is rather detailed, so... it's probably sufficient. Just try to briefly summarize some of the positive and negative aspects of the game. Most people will skip over anything that's particularily long.

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

I think people just read the summary. Few people read the reviews, fewer would read anything beyond the first paragraph.

[cinedine]

Originally posted by <™-=> Cookiez <=-™>:

Yes, 8000 characters is around 1000+ words. It's much less than your final paper.

Aye, sorry I misread it. Still 8000 characters should clock in at around 1000 words, which should be enough. Most professional reviews are shorter than that and, as you've said yourself, very few will read a wall of text.

[Sharpie The Dragon]

Originally posted by cinedine:

Originally posted by <™-=> Cookiez <=-™>:

Yes, 8000 characters is around 1000+ words. It's much less than your final paper.

Aye, sorry I misread it. Still 8000 characters should clock in at around 1000 words, which should be enough. Most professional reviews are shorter than that and, as you've said yourself, very few will read a wall of text.

Unfortunely, professional reviews need to be done via Youtube now to bypass the limit.

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

Originally posted by Sharples65:

Originally posted by cinedine:

Aye, sorry I misread it. Still 8000 characters should clock in at around 1000 words, which should be enough. Most professional reviews are shorter than that and, as you've said yourself, very few will read a wall of text.

Unfortunely, professional reviews need to be done via Youtube now to bypass the limit.

Screw professional reviews, none of these reviews are professional. We just want a way to write down what we honestly think.

[Psyche]

I remember that guide sections had character limits, which was slightly annoying. But I've never written a long review.

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

Here's a tip. Create a "Guide" to write a full review. That's what I use to bypass the 8000 word limit. It works for me.

You write a guide and link it to your review.

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

Or Steam could copy the Guides layout and put it in the Reviews?

That way it looks more "professional" (whatever that means).

Increases the word count.

Creates a systematic method for tracking reviews.

Is easy to do since Steam already has the layout in their Guides section.